You never know where autonomy may lead

Indiana teachers Joey Till and Justin Vail are taking the ROLE Challenge. They have transformed their classrooms into Results Only Learning Environments, and the experiences are remarkable. They are sharing anecdotes periodically about the effects of going to a ROLE. Joey writes:

"Had a student not working in class. Instead of taking him in the hallway and threatening him with punishment and being confrontational and forcing him to work, I simply let him know that he could use his class time wisely or he would be doing this on his time. With the fumes coming out of his ears, I walked away and helped a couple other kids, not worrying if he was going to get busy or waste the day. . . .The next time I walked by, he was busy and ended up doing extra work that he didn't even need to do.  It is enjoyable to put the responsibility on them instead of me feeling it is my responsibility."

Try giving your students this kind of choice. You never know where autonomy may lead.